The present disclosure relates in general to host devices that can interoperate with accessories, and in particular to interoperation of a host device with an accessory to facilitate the learning and processing of signals from a remote control.
Remote control devices (referred to herein as “remote controls”) are commonly used to remotely operate various consumer electronic devices such as televisions, DVD players, digital video recorders, and the like. A typical remote control includes one or more buttons and a signal transmitter. When a button of the remote control is activated, the signal transmitter can transmit a signal associated with the button activation event to a signal receiver of a target device to be controlled. The signal can be, for example, a wireless signal such as an infrared (IR) or radio frequency (RF) signal, and can correspond to a function of the target device. When the signal is received at the signal receiver, the signal can be recognized by the target device and the corresponding function can be executed.
In recent years, there has been growing consumer demand for the ability to remotely operate portable media devices. As used herein, a portable media device is a handheld device that is capable of managing and/or playing back media assets such as audio, video, and/or still image files. Some portable media devices, such as the iPod® and iPhone™ (both developed by Apple Inc., assignee of the present application), can provide users a variety of services in addition to media management and playback. Examples of such services include the storage of personal data such as calendar, contacts, and notes; Internet access; mobile telephony; and the ability to selectively download and run various application programs.
To facilitate the remote operation of portable media devices, accessories have been developed that that can interface with a portable media device and receive remote control signals on behalf of the device. These accessories typically have a connector adapted to be docked or mated with a corresponding connector of a portable media device, thereby allowing the exchange of various signals and data between the accessory and the portable media device, and a signal receiver adapted to receive signals from a remote control.
Generally speaking, these existing accessories are designed to recognize a static “vocabulary” of remote control signals and, when a signal in the static vocabulary is received, send an associated command to a connected portable media device. For example, one such existing accessory might be configured to recognize a static signal vocabulary comprising signals A, B, and C that are associated with device commands “PLAY,” “FAST FORWARD,” and “REWIND” respectively. When signal A is received at the signal receiver of the accessory, the accessory can recognize A as a signal in its static vocabulary and send the “PLAY” command to a connected portable media device. Similarly, when signal B or C is received at the signal receiver of the accessory, the accessory can recognize B or C as a signal in its static vocabulary and send the “FAST FORWARD” or “REWIND” command to the connected portable media device. With this type of implementation, the portable media device can only be controlled by remote controls that are capable of transmitting the specific signals in the static signal vocabulary of the accessory.